Simpler microwaves

[LUCHKN]

After thought - could the arrow on the minute dial be made more prominent? I wondered whether it would help if the dial was "tear drop" shaped so that the arrow was somehow part of the shape of the switch. It would make it more intuitive to work, I feel.

Canary that's a very good point! The reason I made it that shape was because it screams "Turn me" due to the bevelled edges and round shape, but I completely see your side of it and would make a lot of sense! Regarding price which I should have mentioned above is that it would be sold at £69.99, this is after calculating all costs involved in manufacture, do you think this would be a fair price? Ideally it would have been a bit cheaper but the costs are too high.

 

[canary]

Regarding price which I should have mentioned above is that it would be sold at £69.99, this is after calculating all costs involved in manufacture, do you think this would be a fair price? Ideally it would have been a bit cheaper but the costs are too high.

Actually, thats not too bad. You can get mirowaves cheaper, but lots of them are more expensive too.

 

[Agzy]

Hi all,

I'm a student in my final year of Product Design and have been in the research stage for the last couple of months, my focus of the project is to hopefully develop a design that aids a task of daily life a bit better in anyway possible. I have been looking particularly at microwave's and have learnt that microwaves can be an issue for a number of reasons such as not cooking things properly because of changed dials setting to defrost leading to food sickness, turning the plug off at the wall or just putting objects in there that shouldn't be. My research has been focused primarily on people in the early to mid stage who still cook their own frozen meals in the microwave. I have read through these forums that there is often trouble using modern microwaves with the fancy dials so people will often buy the cheapest (simplest) microwave that they can find on the market. i have looked online and the closest product to an aid when microwaving is a talking microwave, which is very £££ expensive.

My question (if you don't mind commenting back) is what your experience was like in this area, has anyone had food sickness from improperly cooked food, whether you had to buy a more basic microwave? And would you have bought a microwave specifically designed for dementia if there was one on the market (Such as power setting at back so it is preset by carer/family member to cook on whatever PWD is having like the one touch radio, or simpler larger dials with contrasting colors and easier gripping surfaces, and icons in bold to stand out etc.)

Thanks so much for reading, I have looked around the current forums for this issue and read up on others experiences but am just wondering if anyone has any other experiences to share. Apologies for the long post, I understand students post on here a lot and it must get frustrating seeing the same posts.

I have had permission to post.

Thanks again all, I appreciate the time taken out to read this.

The main issue for me with a partner who has Alzheimer's is getting hot food out of the microwave. I did buy the special round trays with handles that fit in the glass turntable but find the dishes often slip as they are carried and reaction is to grab home dish, not recommended. So, to sum it up, safety of use in every way!

 

[WJG]

Think this way: developing a product or system that benefits people with special needs can benefit everyone. Just imagine the possible benefits of a microwave that knows from a barcode or chip just what it has to do. Children could use it, people in a hurry could use it, people with dementia could use it. Everyone wins. But ideally food manufacturers would need to sign up so that ready meals could be part of the system.